White Light/White Heat
| Recorded = September 1967 | Studio = Scepter Studios, Manhattan | Genre = | Length = | Label = Verve | Producer = Tom Wilson | Last album = The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) | This album = White Light/White Heat (1968) | Next album = The Velvet Underground (1969) | Misc = }} White Light/White Heat is the second studio album by American rock band the Velvet Underground, released in 1968 by record label Verve. It was the band's last studio recording of new material with bassist and founding member John Cale. Background After the disappointing sales of the Velvet Underground's first album, The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967), the band's relationship with Andy Warhol deteriorated. They toured throughout most of 1967. Many of their live performances featured noisy improvisations that would become key elements on White Light/White Heat. The band fired Warhol, parted ways with Nico, and recorded their second album with Tom Wilson credited as producer. Recording The album was recorded in just two days, and with a noticeably different style from that of The Velvet Underground & Nico. John Cale described White Light/White Heat as "a very rabid record... The first one had some gentility, some beauty. The second one was consciously anti-beauty." Sterling Morrison said: "We were all pulling in the same direction. We may have been dragging each other off a cliff, but we were all definitely going in the same direction." Content The album has been described as experimental rock, noise rock, proto-punk and art rock by writers and critics. Nearly every song on the album contains some sort of experimental or avant-garde quality. "The Gift", for example, contains a recital of a short story and a loud instrumental rock song playing simultaneously, with the former on the left speaker channel and the latter on the right on the stereo version. "I Heard Her Call My Name" is distinguishable for its distorted guitar solos and prominent use of feedback. The record's lyrics vary from themes of drug use and sexual references (such as fellatio and orgies), including the song "Lady Godiva's Operation", about a transsexual woman's botched lobotomy, and the title track "White Light/White Heat", which describes the use of amphetamine. "Here She Comes Now" is built around a double-entendre. On the album's last track, "Sister Ray", Lou Reed tells a tale of debauchery involving drag queens having a failed orgy, while the band plays an improvised seventeen-minute jam around three chords. Cover The album cover to White Light/White Heat is a faint image of a tattoo of a skull. The tattoo was that of Joe Spencer, who played the lead role in Warhol's 1967 film Bike Boy. Spencer starred as a hustler in a motorcycle gang and is seen taking a shower in the movie. Although he wasn't credited for the cover design as with their debut album, it was Warhol's idea to use a black-on-black picture of the tattoo. Reed selected the image from the negatives from the film, and it was enlarged and distorted by Billy Name, one of the members of the Factory. It is difficult to distinguish the tattoo, as the image is black, printed on a slightly lighter black background. On this cover, the album name, the Verve logo, and the band name are all on one line. An alternative cover was used for Polydor's mid-1980s reissues. This cover had a completely black background, without the arm in the background. On this version, the album name, Verve logo, and band name are printed on three separate lines. There also exists a unique MGM Records UK cover, produced from 1976 until the early '80s, featuring a white background and abstract toy soldiers. In 1974, the album was reissued by MGM under the title "Archetypes". The cover of this version features two men wearing helmets standing in front of a Woolworth's.http://www.discogs.com/The-Velvet-Underground-Archetypes/release/981371 Reception | rev2 = Chicago Tribune | rev2score = |rev3 = Classic Rock |rev3score = | rev4 = Pitchfork | rev4score = 10/10 | rev5 = Rolling Stone | rev5score = | rev6 = Rolling Stone Album Guide | rev6score = Portions posted at | rev7 = Sputnikmusic | rev7score = 3.5/5 | noprose = yes }} Like other releases by the group, the album's socially transgressive lyrical themes and avant-garde instrumentation challenged popular music sensibilities at the time, creating a muted reception. The album briefly appeared on the ''Billboard'' 200, peaking at number 199. Retrospective reviews have been much more positive, with the album being listed at number 293 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Legacy White Light/White Heat contains distorted, feedback-driven, and roughly recorded sound, which is regarded as influential. British rock band Buzzcocks were formed by Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto out of a shared interest in "Sister Ray". Track listing Personnel ; The Velvet Underground * Lou Reed – lead vocals, lead guitar (tracks 2, 3, 5 and 6), rhythm guitar (tracks 1 and 4) * John Cale – lead vocals (track 3), backing vocals (tracks 1 and 5), spoken word (track 2), electric viola (tracks 3 and 4), Vox Continental organ (track 6), piano (tracks 1 and 4), bass guitar (tracks 1, 2, 4 and 5), medical sound effects (track 3) * Sterling Morrison – lead guitar (tracks 1, 2, 4 and 6), rhythm guitar (track 5), bass guitar (track 3), backing vocals (tracks 1, 3 and 5), medical sound effects (track 3) * Maureen Tucker – percussion (tracks 1–5), drums (track 6), tambourine (track 4) ; Technical personnel * Gary Kellgren – recording engineer * Bob Ludwig – mastering * Val Valentin – director of engineering * Tom Wilson – production References Further reading * Category:1968 albums Category:Albums produced by Tom Wilson (record producer) Category:English-language albums Category:Protopunk albums Category:The Velvet Underground albums Category:Verve Records albums